The UK Government can embed a “world class” low-carbon environment that could mobilise significant investment streams, but only if current policy gaps and mixed legislative signals are addressed with “bold” action.

That is the overarching view of the Future low carbon investment in the UK report, published on 16 November 2016 by a group of leading NGOs, which claimed that the UK’s carbon plan and industrial strategy could generate billions in clean revenue streams if the Government sharpens policies in the low-carbon heat and transport sectors.

“Integrating the carbon plan and industrial strategy can unlock investment in the power, heat and transport sectors into the 2020s,” the report noted. “Public investment in such projects brings significant benefits to the UK. Alongside attracting private investment, low carbon projects generate jobs, improve health and increase the competitiveness needed to export the UK’s skills and knowledge to global markets.

“The government can address current policy gaps with supportive spending and policy decisions in this parliament that set a clear direction for the future.”

The report, produced by the Green Alliance, RSPB, WWF, CAFOD, Christian Aid and Greenpeace, claimed that “bold” action is need to stimulate the UK’s low-carbon transition. According to the report, clearer policies on renewables could attract around £47bn of investment between 2021 and 2026, while £8.6bn could be saved annually during the 2020s by retrofitting domestic buildings with heat efficiency measures.